"Granny, I'm home." I yell when I get inside the house, so granny Mary can hear me. Her hearing seems to get worse these past few days.

"Did you get me the hemorrhoid pads?"

"Yeah, I did. I also got you some skin care and collagen facial masks." I open my bag and take the things that I bought for her at Walmart.

"Thank you, dear." Granny looks thrilled, as she studies the facial masks closely, "how's your workout?"

"Doing good. Actually, I did a video shoot for Grayson's channel."

"What about?" Granny started watching Grayson's channel because of me, and now, she's enjoying the videos too much.

"Working out with Brooke."

"Oh, that little blond girl."

"She's not little anymore, Granny. She's taller than me." I chuckle, then I tell her about the concept of the video. I stop talking when she's not paying attention anymore. Her attention span in listening only lasts for two minutes. "I'll see you later. I'm going to take a shower."

"I'll go back to my room and try these products." She answers, and leave ahead of me.

I had a quick shower then changed to my favorite sweater. I called my cousin, Kiera and we talked for almost thirty minutes about anything. She's a relative from my mother's side, we're the same age. She lives in Pennsylvania and works as an assistant chef in a hotel.

I told her about the video shoot I did earlier, then we started talking about Grayson.

"He said I have beautiful eyes. That's just so weird, because he never complimented me before. Ever."

"Hmm... he's flirting with you."

"Of course not. He was just being friendly."

"I think he likes you, girl," she teases me, " a guy never compliments a girl's eyes if he's just being friendly. Oh my, Grayson took too long to realize that he likes you."

"You have a weird mind."

She roars in laughter, then says, "I remember, when you first met him, you couldn't stop talking about him."

"That's bullshit, Keira. That never happened."

"Come on, Rox. You had a crush on him, but you just don't want to admit it."

"Well, a bit, that's it."

"Are you sure, just a bit?"

"Okay. I find him attractive... because he actually is. Even you, you said you find him attractive, right? But that's it. I never imagined myself in a relationship with him."

"Because of Julia. You're afraid of her finding out your feelings."

"What is wrong with you? I don't have any feelings for Grayson. And about Julia, yes, our friendship is very important to me. I don't want to ruin it by hooking up with her brother."

"Point taken. But what about the viewers? They're shipping you and him. Have you read the comments? They want you to date."

"I know. It's kinda weird, but I have to get used to it. There's nothing really going on, we're just all friends in his team. I enjoy hanging out with them, and doing videos."

"If you say so." She says, doubting my words. "But you really look good together in the videos. I don't blame the viewers for shipping you guys. I'm even a fan of Rox-son." She giggles aloud, "if you guys end up together, you'll be a power couple."

"Stop it, Kiera, you're a million steps ahead. You know that's not possible. You're one people who knows us better, so stop expecting more like the viewers."

"Okay... okay. I give up. So tell me what's the next video?"

"Ugh! It's a secret. Just wait on Wednesday night, okay?" I say, then shift to another topic. "How's the new chef that you've been eyeing on? Any progress?"

__

The following day was Sunday. I started my day early by going to the gym. I took a long shower when I arrived home and had my breakfast.

At ten, I was in the laundry room, sitting on top of the washing machine waiting for our clothes to get done. I heard a commotion outside, and I knew someone arrived.

I was watching a Netflix action movie when someone knocked at the door, then opened it.

I got surprised the moment I saw who it was.

"Hey Roxanne." Grayson greets me, making my heart flutters so fast.

I suddenly became conscious of my appearance. I did not comb my hair well after I took a shower, and there was a huge stain in front of my shirt.

"Hi, what are you doing here?" I get down from the washing machine and face him.

"My phone is dead, so I came here right away." He enters the room, looking so gorgeous as always. His hair is still wet from the shower and he smells freshly clean, of soap and aftershave.

"What about?"

He leans his hip against the table across me, and one hand under his pants pocket. He looks so good in his white shirt, with the sleeves rolled above his elbows, and worn out denim pants.

"I need a girl's opinion in picking up costumes for our next video. I can't drag Julia out, she's still sick, her cough is getting worse."

"Yeah, it's terrible. She told me this morning."

"At least it's not Covid."

I nod, then ask, "what kind of costume we'll be getting?"

"I don't know yet, I can't think of a theme. It's just for a game." He shrugs his shoulders, then smiles again.

I wish he stops giving me that kind of smile, I'm melting already.

"I'll just get change. Can you watch the laundry and tell mom when it's done?" I say, trying my best to sound natural.

"Of course."

I don't want to look like I'm trying to get his attention or anything; I change to an old sweater. I tied my hair in a ponytail and put some lip balm on my lips.

We went to the only costume store that's open during the pandemic.

"What do you want? There are so many to choose from. Halloween costumes, Disney princesses, witches and vampires, Santa and elves, Anime characters, Pirates..." My eyes looking at selections of costumes hanging in a rack.

"I can't think of any right. Just try on some costumes, let's see what will suit you well. Anyway, you and Julia will be the major attraction. We can adjust, we're not picky."

"I see. How about a pumpkin?"

He chuckles, "I'm sure Julia won't like that. Pick another."

"Okay, I'll try this one," I pick the witch outfit with a wig and a broom.

"It's not for Halloween. Choose something attractive that you and Julia would love to wear." He chooses costumes in the rack, then grabs a cowgirl outfit. "Try this."

"I saw its matching cowboy outfit. Do you like to try it on?"

"Sure."

We ended up trying the matching cowboy and cowgirl outfit together. We stared ourselves in front of the mirror as we did a lot of poses then laughed aloud.

He looked so devastatingly handsome. I was perspiring just looking at him.

"I wanted to be a cowboy when I was a kid. I imagined myself riding a horse and catching a deer using a rope. But I stopped dreaming about it when I watched James Bond. I thought James Bond was cooler."

"There's a James Bond outfit, would you like to try it?"

"Only if you try on a Bond girl."

I laughed, "Okay let's do it."

We changed, then went out of our respective changing rooms and faced the mirror.

"You look so damn hot." His eyes sweep from the slit of the black long dress, that shows my left thigh, to my face. He intentionally skips my neckline that shows too much of my cleavage.

"You look so dashing." I smile at him, and he smiles back, acknowledging my complement. We make many poses, imitating the iconic James Bond pose. His fake gun is pointing at the mirror, while I'm behind him.

We had so much fun trying too many costumes. We talked about a lot of things too - things that we never discussed ever before. He asked about my dad, if I missed him and how I handle things whenever I'm sad. He told me about his job in New York, that he never regretted resigning.

We got cowboy/cowgirl outfits. Same costume for the rest of the gang. We were laughing, talking about some funny stuff, when I walked in front of a post and almost hit my face. Grayson was quick to grab my arm and pulled me against his chest.

For about ten seconds, he held me in his arms. I was shocked at first, but it replaced the feeling with awareness of him. The feel of his body against mine, his heat that vibrated inside me, and his manly scent. That stirred all my senses.

"Thank you."

His eyes roamed on my face, then said, "You're exquisite"

Oh God. I was blushing, my face felt so hot. Before I could reply, a shadow came in front of us.

I turned around and shocked to see Archer.